Betty Arlene Thompson

Betty was born in Akron, Ohio on August 21, 1916 to Ralph & Bertha (née Williams) Cooper.  She graduated from East High School in Akron in 1935; and was a Technical Sergeant in the US Marine Corp, Aviation Woman's Reserve Squadron #7 from 1943 to 1946, doing Instrument Flight Training and Link Trainer Operator at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, California.  Betty worked for Bell Telephone before and after her military service in Ohio, California and the Pacific NW.  After living in Akron, Ohio and Santa Monica, California she moved to Milwaukie, Oregon in 1946.  She married, Donald Ray Thompson on December 17, 1946 in Portland, Oregon.  In 1967 she went to work for Omark Industries and in 1973 she went to work for Omark Federal Credit Union until 1980 when she found her career with Presbytery of the Cascades, where she retired from in 2009.  Betty took various courses over her lifetime at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.



She enjoyed singing and sang with the Akron Civic Chorus, Milwaukie Clef Club, Portland Symphonic Choir, Portland Chorale, Milwaukie Presbyterian Church and the Handbell Choir.  She also enjoyed sewing, quilting, painting, calligraphy, reading, traveling and attending The Oregon Symphony.





Betty passed away July 31, 2020, surrounded by her family. Being just shy of her 104th birthday, she had lived independently until January of 2020.  She is survived by her sons, Jerry Lee, Jeff Howard and Don Roy Thompson; her daughters-in-law, Kathryn, Susan and Lynn; thirteen grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren.  Her husband Donald preceded her in death in 2005.



A private cemetery service will be held with Military Honors at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.